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When wheelchair racer Christie Dawes started competing back in 1996, the Paralympics had a 20-minute highlights report after the news every night.
“We ran off the smell of an oily rag back in the early 90s and the early 2000s and we were the most successful we've ever been because we were hungry for it,” she says.
Looking back over her career, Christie explains the moments she’s most proud of are the behind-the-scenes situations she’s been a part of over the years.
“I've had issues with my racing chair and my direct female competitors have come up to me with a spare part and have helped me fix it. We borrow each other's compressors to put air in our tires to try and beat each other.”
Flashforward to this year’s games, and the event’s coverage has expanded to 15 hours of premium airtime.
Now a commentator for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, the three-time medallist says she’s enjoying sharing stories of our top competitors and who she thinks will bring home the gold.
“One you should keep your eye on is a young girl, a little firecracker. A fast sprinter called Telaya Blacksmith. She's originally from the Northern Territory. She's an Indigenous athlete and she's really going to shine in the sprints on the track.”
Telaya broke records on Tuesday morning, making history alongside the likes of First Nations athlete Cathy Freeman. The 16-year-old set a new national record for the T20 classification which includes people with an intellectual disability.
“It's just amazing opportunity and I'm very thankful for it. I love my sport …especially going towards my limits and seeing what I can do,” she says.
In other Paralympic news, the Australian Steelers took home a bronze medal in their nail biting final against Great Britain on Monday night.
Shae Graham started playing wheelchair rugby in 2014, and a few short years later was offered a spot on the Steelers, the official Australian Paralympic team.
“That same year [2019], I became the first female to represent Australia playing wheelchair rugby,” she says. “Since then, we've had female participation increase, and we've now got three female athletes.”
The Tokyo Games, held during the 2021 COVID-19 lockdowns, saw a change in the way Australians viewed athletes with disabilities.
“Australia fell in love with their Paralympic team,” Shae says.
“We're real athletes and we're out there competing at the highest level. We're elite and I think the Australian public appreciate us as athletes and celebrate what we can achieve.”
Shae believes the Paralympics is the perfect platform to show what people with disabilities can achieve not just in sport, but in life as well.
“It introduces people's strengths and the power of the human spirit…The perfect platform to celebrate differences and diversity and hopefully create a more inclusive and accessible world,” she says.
You can check out the full interviews with Powerd's Emma Myers on The Wire.